DACA Decision Devastates Kids In Our Schools

06Sep
by Leticia Chavez-Garcia

“Will history judge most harshly the madman who is doing this, or the spineless ones who allow him to?”  Marianne Williamson

On Tuesday morning, we started the day with another vicious and heartless act by President Trump. Too cowardly to make the announcement himself, President Trump had his racist Attorney General Jeff Sessions make the announcement that his administration has rescinded the DACA program, directly affecting some 800,000 young adults who took advantage of the program and millions more among us including students currently enrolled in our public schools.  

Communities across the country will be devastated by this unnecessary and cruel decision.   

This is not a new fight. For many us, it is a continued fight that began about 20 years ago. We may recall the days when Gil Cedillo led the charge for the DREAM Act here in California, and you may remember that it was not easy for him or his supporters. Many were not yet on board with the idea of a pathway to citizenship for those who were in the country without documentation by force and not by choice. It has been a long road, and DACA certainly was not perfect. It was the by product of a failed federal DREAM Act that could not get enough support from the Senate to pass and become law. President Obama acted in good faith in providing DACA, but it always meant to be temporary until Congress could pass a more permanent solution. The time for that solution is NOW!

Congress should act at once to stop the wrecking ball that Attorney General Jeff Sessions slammed into our communities today. Calling the DACA directive unconstitutional, Sessions has set into motion the single most hateful removal of immigrants ever seen in this country. Is this who we want to be as a country? Will policy makers continue to allow the unsound actions of a POTUS that blatantly bases his policy decisions on white supremacist values and beliefs?

Lawmakers at the federal level should act right away to stop the crazy train. Paul Ryan has made several statements over the course of the weekend and again this morning about keeping DACA.  We thank and appreciate his efforts as well as the efforts of countless other Republican representatives, Democratic representatives, CEOs and business leaders, clergy, and all others who have rationally called for the preservation of the DACA program. But what we need now is not another condemnation by these leaders, we need action to back up the words that have been professed in the favor and name of the millions affected by the president’s actions today!  

We should hold to account those who have strongly condemned the president’s action and today ask them to bring relief for the DREAMers to the floor of congress within six months. We see you Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, John McCain…do something! That you let this situation within your party get this far is bad enough; people are counting on you to start fixing things. Kids sitting in our classrooms are DACA card holders that today are sitting with anxiety and fear.   

I do not want to see another press release from another politician. I want to see actual solutions to resolve and provide legislation that fixes DACA and gets a resolution to the president’s desk. Whether Trump would sign anything that provides a solution is doubtful in my mind, but at this point, we have to put the pressure on everyone. We call on the nation’s leaders to take immediate action to provide relief for our communities.

What do you think?

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Leticia Chavez-Garcia

Leticia Chavez-Garcia is a Mother, Grandmother, former Middle School Teacher, former Member of a School Board of Education and an Education Advocate for hundreds of parents and students in the Inland Empire. Having become a mother at 15, Leticia knows what it’s like to be a single mother trying to navigate the education system. Leticia received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science and Public Administration from California Baptist University and a Masters’ Degree in Education Technology from Cal State Fullerton in her 30’s. Leticia has used her knowledge and experience to help hundreds of families as an Education Advocate in the Inland Empire and currently works as an Education Specialist.

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